I Miss the Intro to Scandinavian Campaign

[Bahmo]

Call me sentimental, but I think this is my favorite level of the game.  At the very least, it's tied with Tower of Babel and Covenant Assault for it.  All of those levels just struck such a badass chord with me; after that one episode of Robot Chicken whose mean-natured skits seemed to suggest that modern M-rated games were "stronger" than the old ones, it felt like a great come-uppance to see Mario and company kicking ass in a mature fashion.  Taking down a gunship by chucking a Shyguy is one of those moments I'll never forget.

Yet for all its cool brashness, I feel part of the inherent charm of the level was the way it built drama; starting the player in a tranquil, frozen Scandinavian landscape with tranquil music that fit with frozen landscapes, then hitting hard with the metallic theme and intense firefights of the battlefields.  It was such a cool impression that I still listen to the first two musical themes from the level back-to-back in that order.

So why was the beginning of that level taken out?  It feels so much less powerful and immersive without it!  The only excuse I can think of is that it is now preceded by many other levels with the rebel army, and as such, the build-up has already taken place, but honestly I don't think that's enough reason.  The level is just so nostalgic to me, and probably to so many other people, that I feel it needs to remain whole as a testament to those who have followed this project from the beginning.  Revamp the first part of the level if you must; there is plenty you can do with a less-action-oriented take on Scandinavia, but please bring it back in some form with that great ambient music again!

[Del]

A while ago something got into Obreck (not sure if other devs too) about some levels being too long like that one, Yellowstone Journey, Bydo Station, etc., so a couple of rooms in Scandinavian Campaign and Yellowstone Journey were cut, they wanted to split Bydo too but they didn't. This was also the time where the old Tree Zone Trek and Top Man's levels were cut and Giant Land was remade because they were remakes.

I wouldn't have agreed about cutting down those rooms, they were pretty fun, not sure about the other devs but none of the main devs in the current team were in back then lol.

[CambridgeSMERSH]

Speaking of Scandinavian Campaign, you might want to redo the message boxes now that the level has been shortened. I mean, they no longer explain the background story of the level now that the first two rooms have been cut.

The first message box should be something like this:

"Welcome to Scandinavia - or to be more precise, the Swedish city of Gothenburg. Unfortunately, this is no time for sightseeing. A military insurrection is brewing from Russia. The Rebel Army appears to be the spearhead of the attacks, supported by troops of the alien conqueror, Red Falcon. Get ready to fight your way through the city!"

The second message box should also be slightly revamped:

"Watch yourself around the Gulf of Bothnia! The water is so cold it will hurt you! Falling in, however, is the least of your worries. The Rebel Army means business now! They brought along tanks and attack helicopters!"

[Divadale]

Hey I really like those I hope they make it in.

[Aura]

Those rooms are still in the game, see if you can find them. You'll have to look at the shape of the rooms, of course - the tiles, backgrounds and enemies are all different.

[CambridgeSMERSH]

Those rooms are still in the game, see if you can find them. You'll have to look at the shape of the rooms, of course - the tiles, backgrounds and enemies are all different.

Don't try to hide it, Aura, it has been known the rooms were given a retrofitting since 0.4...

(click to show/hide)

The first two rooms of Scandinavian Campaign are now Antenora. In fact, when Antenora was first revealed as one of fourteen videos posted on YouTube in a single day, they didn't remove the message box in the second room, which has the text about the Oresund bridge and stuff. Thought it was hilarious at the time!

[Divadale]

Oh snap you beat me to it I was going to sat the same thing.

[Quantus]

Have come to miss the first few parts from SC as well.

If they cut, anything, and seriously... anything from that level... why couldn't they have cut the last part? Really not a fan of that autoscrolling section. Like most autoscrolling section but find the first part of that one tedious and then the second part, the running part, kind of annoying with the way that the planes "hide in the terrain"... they can shoot but many projectiles can shoot them.

Actually upon typing this, might try out that part with zero.

[Wetwoo]

The autoscroll high speed section, commonly known to MKF fans as the RUN section, was to be a one time feature in The Library. When it was showcased, people loved it so much that they demanded RUN sections everywhere, ending up in the first version of Yellowstone Journey (which also was as long as Scandy and got cut up later), Skyscraper Domain, and more levels.

Very long levels were split because it is generally a bad idea to have a game with as many levels as MKF with too many levels that are padded to Castlevania stage lengths.

[Quantus]

The Run Section... dig it. : D

Don't recall any mario games using a fast autoscroll... definitely adds some extra variety. Didn't like it at first (way back in .0125 beta) but after playing them for some time now have come to like it quite a bit... loved that "running with the bulls" or whatever the name level.

Had an MKF sesh but forgot to try SC with a shooting character (probably going to use zero...)

Wonder how it'll work... could see how knockback could perhaps lead to some instand deaths : /

[TheomanZero]

I think the "RUN!" sections are one of MKF's major "selling points" . . . they're very unique and distinctive, and they add a lot of challenge to the game.  It's kind of hard to do something new with Mario-style 2D platformers these days (especially with the limits of Game Maker) and I think MKF had a real success in this regard.